Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

For this blog post I have selected three speech acts by people in environmental fields to analyze based on the Author/Speaker, the intended Audience, and the text's context

The first that I will evaluate is Diana Liverman's article in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers titled: Who Governs, at What Scale and at What Price?Geography, Environmental Governance, and theCommodification of Nature. I wasn't able to access it on Google Scholar, so I linked to Liverman's personal website where it is available to the public. 

Diana Liverman is a world renound geographer, writer, and environmentalist. She is currently the co-director of the Institute of the Environment at UA, and a fellow at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. Her work focuses on the human dimensions of global environmental change. Her main research interests include climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, and climate policy and mitigation especially in the developing world.

This specific publication is intended for an academic audience. I can tell because it's published in an academic journal, has in-text citation, and multiple pages of references at the end, and uses academic language specific to the field and to highly educated audiences.

It was published in 2008, and focuses on the nuances of globalization, environmental change, and the monetary value that is arbitrarily placed on nature. It's closely related to the current environmental movement. 

NPR Morning Edition recently did a story on Food Waste titled: "It's Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say"

The author of the story, Allison Aubry, is a correspondent for NPR News, and a 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards nominee for her broadcast radio coverage of food and nutrition. Although she's not an absolute expert on the topic of food waste and food systems, she is an expert reporter. 

The story is intended for a much more general audience than Liverman's publication. I know this because it appears in NPR Morning Edition, which is a program designed for anyone who listens to the radio. It uses easily understood language. 

It was written on September 16, 2015 in response to the new government goal of reducing foodwaste by 50% by 2030. It's also related to the current environmental movement. 

Foerster. "treasure trove of wasted food." July 2013 via Wikimedia. Creative Commons License

The third article that I chose is: "Towards carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability at CCSU". It was written for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 

The author, Charles Button, is a professor of Geography at Central Connecticut State University. He founded and chaired the CCSU Global Environmental Sustainability Action Coalition, and was as faculty chair of CCSU’s President’s Advisory Council for Environmental Sustainability. He also helped create the first graduate level degree of ‘Global Sustainability’ at his university. 

The article is intended for an academic audience. It appears in an academic journal, uses citations, and employs academic language. 

It was written in 2008, and is definitely a resource for those trying to move their university towards carbon neutrality. It's part of the current Environmental Movement. 

Reflection: I read Mathias's and Chad's  blog posts. The biggest thing that I realized is that I need to choose a more opinionated speech act for my project. The articles that I chose are more explanatory than opinionated. I found a new Article, written by Bill Mckibben, expressing his opinion about Obama's environmental legacy as president.

Bill Mckibben is a leading writer and environmental activist and professor at Middlebury college. He started 350.org, and has advocated for and helped support campus divestment movements. The article is intended for a general audience, and was written in 2013.

Developing a Research Question

The field of Environmental Studies includes topics ranging from national parks and protecting wild lands to food systems and the intersection between social justice and climate change science.

Right now most of my interests are driven by the things that I'm involved with outside of the classroom. I work for Compost Cats, which is a student-run program that partners with the city of Tucson and the San Javier CoOp farm to divert foodwaste from the landfill and produce a nutrient rich soil amenment for use in local farms and gardens. Our program is very closely tied to issues of food insecurity in Southern Arizona. Tremendous amounts of food are wasted in Nogales, the largest land port in the United States, and yet Arizona has the third highest rates of childhood food insecurity in the nation. 40% of food grown is wasted. There aren't many human societies history that could afford to waste this much, and I don't think that we can either. This work has led me to question our current food system. Are there other food system models that would be more effective than our current one? What role should local, organic, and genetically modified foods play in a re-imagined food system?

I'm also involved in a branch of Students for Sustainability called the Energy and Climate Committee. Our goal is to develop a Climate Action Plan for the U of A that will lay out a path towards carbon neutrality over the next ten or so years. This work has led me to think a lot about how grassroots movements gain momentum. What are the integral pieces of a successful university climate action movement? How do these things typically gain the popular momentum necessary to convince administration that it's the correct path forward? Answering these questions is going to be incredibly important for us in figuring out how to move forward with our plan.

Djwosa. "Climate Change" 7/25/2015 via Pixabay. Creative Commons License

Another thing that I'm interested in is Diana Liverman's (she is a world renound environmental activist and geographer who currently heads the Institute for the Environment at UA) work surrounding climate change and environmental and social justice, and climate policy.  I'm also interested in environmental philosophy and the commodification of nature, and questions of how best to live given the dire outlook of humanity's current situation. Diana Liverman has many published works, and I would really like to choose one of them to do an in depth analysis of. One that seems interesting is: "Who Governs, at What Scale and at What Price? Geography, Environmental Governance, and the Commodification of Nature"

Reflection on Project 1

In this post I will answer the following questions about writing the QRG:

• What challenges did you face during the Quick Reference Guide project and how did you deal with them?
• What successes did you experience on the project and how did they happen?
• What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find the most effective for your project? Why?
• What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find were not effective for your project? Why?
• How was the writing process for this project similar to other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?
• How was the writing process for this project different from other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?
• Would any of the skills you practiced for this project be useful in your other coursework? Why or why not?

Some of the main challenges that I faced were in the initial stages of planning. For me, the hardest part of any writing project is coming up with and narrowing an idea that I feel excited about. Once I find that it's not hard for me to move forward with the actual writing and production. I am pretty happy with my final product, especially the information that I found about McCain's and Flake's campaign financing through Rio Tinto. It's always exciting for me to dig up that kind of dirt and be able to use it in a project. 

In terms of design choices, I think that using large photos to completely break up the text was effective. I also feel like I did a pretty good job of having a conversational tone. The writing process was pretty similar for this project to other school writing assignments, but more drawn out. When I'm left up to my own time schedule for writing I do much more of the planning and preparing as I'm writing, rather than beforehand. I think that the more controlled process of this project forced me to do more planning before starting writing, which might produce more consistently good work. This strategy could be useful in future coursework. I want to do some more experimentation with it to see if it increases or decreases the amount of time that I spend on school projects. 

Webb, Michaela. "Rogue River Reflection" 2014

Reflection: I read Austin and Mathias's posts. It was interesting to see how Mathias's view on sports journalism changed throughout the project. He said that writing about a controversy in the sports world made him realize that it's all just people getting really worked up over nothing. I have to say that I agree with this opinion. I have a hard time understanding how people get so involved in watching sports and rooting for teams. 

The Fight for Oak Flat: Protect Apache Sacred Grounds or allow Development of one of the Largest Copper Deposits in America

Dolde, Doug. “Superstitions” 10/8/2006 via wikimedia commons. Creative Commons license.

The Fight for Oak Flat: Protect Apache Sacred Grounds or Allow Development of one of the Largest Copper Deposits in America?

Mt. Graham is a sacred site for the San Carlos Apache tribe. It is a burial site for their elders, and a portal to communicate with their gods. In 1873 the US government removed the area from the Apache reservation and re-purposed it as public lands (controlled by the US Forest Service), despite the knowledge that it was a sacred area.  Unfortunately the University of Arizona and the Vatican identified Mt. Graham as a prime spot to build an astronomy observatory, and in 1991 they began construction despite opposition from the Apache tribe. The observation was built, but the controversy didn’t end there. Various Apache, environmental, governmental, and non-governmental organizations lobbied on both sides of the argument for the next few years. The observatory remains on top of Mt. Graham today.

A Current Struggle:

The San Carlos Apache are currently engaged in a battle for the protection of another area that they consider sacred. Oak Flat, just East of Superior, Az., a coming of age ceremony site. It’s also a unique rock-climbing destination, and a beautiful chunk of Southern Arizona wilderness. Unfortunately, one of the largest copper

deposits ever discovered in the United States lies directly underneath Oak Flat.

Crouthamel, Andrew. “Bingham Canyon”. 1/1/2004 via wikiedia commons. Creative Commons License.

The potential economic value of the copper deposit is indisputable, and interested parties have been trying to acquire the land for mining purposes for nearly 10 years. In December 2014, Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake covertly added a small section to an important military spending bill (video link) that opened the Oak Flat area to mining by Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of the mining company Rio Tinto.

Megan. “Money” 3/21/2011 via flickr. Creative Commons License

So, exactly how much economic value would Oak Flat have if mined?

If uncovered, the economic value of the copper deposit under Oak Flat would be huge. In an opinion article in AZCentral in late 2014 McCain stated:

“This project will tap the largest copper deposit ever discovered in North America. Over time, it will produce 25 percent of U.S copper demand. Perhaps most importantly, the mine will create an estimated 3,700 mining and mining-related jobs and generate over $61 billion in economic activity over 60 years, according to an independent study by Elliot D. Pollak & Company. That is the economic equivalent of Arizona hosting two Super Bowls every year for more than half a century.”

That much money provides some powerful reasoning, especially with poverty rates within the San Carlos Apache tribe (49%) are more than triple those of the State. It seems that the increase in economic activity in the area would have the potential to greatly benefit the tribe if any of the money made it back to them.

Could McCain and Flake have ulterior motives?

The potential economic benefits of mining are all well and good, but in the United States where campaign contributions often influence the actions of politicians, it’s important to question McCain and Flake’s motives. It turns out that John McCain is the top recipient of campaign finance money from Rio Tinto, and Jeff Flake, a former lobbyist for the mining industry, has received more than 200k$ in campaign financing from mining companies. This is important contextual information and definitely raises doubts about who they’re really looking out for.

Skidmore, Gage. “John Mccain and Jeff Flake” 10/28/2012 via Flickr. Creative Commons license

What do people think about McCain’s actions?

An opinion article in Tucson Weekly titled: “Critics Call McCain's Oak Flat Tactics a New Low” expressed anger over the campaign financing connection between McCain and Rio Tinto, as well as the sneaky tactics that were used to get the land swap passed. The comments section provides some interesting insight into differing public opinion on the issue:

Webb, Michaela "screenshot 1" 9/25/2015

Webb, Michaela. "screenshot 2" 9/25/2015

These commenters are voicing fear that McCain cares more about money than the people and places of Arizona. Others on the forum were happy with McCain’s value system and believe that producing more copper domestically (through mining)  is critical to national security:

Webb, Michaela. "screenshot 3" 9/25/2015

Those who oppose in this comments section care about  the cultural and natural value of Oak Flat, and are against McCain and Flake’s methods (“Sold our state to the highest bidder”). The commenter who supports McCain and Flake seems to be thinking about the role that copper plays in National Security.

How about the Environmental Impacts?

Roy C. Chavez, a lifelong resident and former mayor of Superior, and a spokesperson for the Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Coalition, says that the environmental impacts of the mine could be considerable. In an opinion article in AZ Central he stated:

“Rio Tinto admits that a mine at Oak Flat would create a hole the size of Meteor Crater... This mine would disrupt the fragile riparian habitat that makes Oak Flat an ecological and recreation haven. It also could disrupt water supplies for Superior, Globe, Miami and the eastern portion of the San Carlos Apache Reservation and for the Phoenix metropolitan area, as this mine would change the hydrology of the area.”

It is clear that the mine would not only destroy an area sacred to the San Carlos Apache, but would also damage an area of incredible natural beauty that has both recreational value and an influence on the water quality of surrounding cities.

Gonzo Fan. "Clear Creek" 4/16/2004 via Wikimedia. Creative Commons License

What do the San Carlos Apache have to say?

In general, the Apache people are outraged that another area with cultural and spiritual significance to them will likely be destroyed. The home page of Apache Stronghold, one of the most active groups in protesting mining development in Oak Flat, reads:

“The greatest sin of the World has been enacted by Senator McCain, Senator Flake… We are calling on all religious faiths, & military veterans, for this country was founded on freedom of speech, religion and worship which has been given away to a foreign mining company.”

This is an especially important issue for the San Carlos Apache; a group of people who have had their land and culture systematically taken from them. They are determined to do everything that they can to repeal the land swap. In an interview with the Indian Country Today Media Network, San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler said: “Oh, we’re not (giving up). It took them 10 years to pass this and if it takes 10 years to repeal it we’ll do it. I keep telling everybody this is not a done deal.”

OpenClipartVectors. “Protest” 9/19/2015 via Pixabay. Creative Commons License.

In August 2015, a group of Apache travelled to Washington for two days of protesting the plans to mine. Over 200 people joined them. On the way to Washington, some of the Apache protesters opened for Neil Young concerts with stories and prayer songs to raise awareness about the fight to protect Oak Flat

What will likely happen?

Although it’s impossible to say what the outcome of this battle will be, Native American groups have a history of losing battles like this. The San Carlos Apache have already lost many sacred places, like Mount Graham.  The truth is that big business interests usually win over the preservation of sacred sites or wilderness. For the land to be protected, a bill proposed by Arizona representative Raul Grijalva would have to be passed. This bill would counteract the rider addition to the National Defense Authorization Act that handed the land over in the first place. On his website, Grijalva states:

“This rally is about the importance of freedom and historical context. It’s about realizing that a deal struck in the dead of night, which would not pass in the light of day, is undercutting the ideals that this nation intends to stand by. That deal tramples basic laws, basic rights, rightful sovereignty and sacred sites in the pursuit of profits and greed.”

The Apache people and their supporters will continue to fight for the protection of their sacred land at Oak Flat, but there’s no saying if they will be successful or not.

Why should this issue matter to you?

This is a multi-faceted issue that leads to vital questions about the way our society functions today. How much does the United States value Native American cultures and religion? Would this site be considered for a mine if it was sacred to a western religion?

It also brings up questions of how sustainable an economy that functions on an infinite growth scale is in a finite world with finite resources. Is the short-term gratification of creating more jobs and generating revenue (within an unsustainable economy) more important than preserving wilderness that has existed for a long time and could for a long time to come?

Clarity, Part 2

I read the sections on shifts, variety, appropriate language, and parallel ideas.

Parallel ideas: When ideas are parallel or of equal importance, it is best to put them in parallel grammatical form. This basically means that the grammatical structure for ideas that come in a list should be the same.

Shifts: This section is just about remaining consistent with point of view, verb tense, and mood throughout a piece so as not to confuse the reader.

Variety: It's important to vary sentence structure, and sentence openings in your writing to keep it interesting and engaging.

Appropriate Language: This section tells the writer to avoid using jargon, pretentious language, euphemisms, slang, and sexist or offensive language. It also talks about choosing an appropriate level of formality for your subject and audience.

Marius Kucklick. "Sad Dog". 2004 via Wikimedia. Creative Commons license.

Reflection: After going through my QRG, I think that I did a pretty good job with parallel ideas and staying consistent with tenses and point of view. I did work a little on varying my sentence structure more. I think that it's important to intersperse long and short sentences to keep the writing flowing well. I found a couple places where I had repetitive words and substituted them with synonyms.

Identifying basic grammar patterns

PDPics. "Grammar" 9/23/2014 via Pixabay. Creative commons license

Here is my longest paragraph with basic grammar patterns identified.

Honestly, I don't think that focusing on grammar will help my writing very much. I think that as a native english speaker, I should have an intuitive sense of grammar and sentence structure. The best thing that I could do to improve my writing on a sentence-level would be to read and write a lot. That being said, I do think that it's important to understand language patterns to learn a second language.

Reflection on Project 1 Draft

I read and commented on Zayla's  and Carrie's QRGs.

For my own QRG, I will answer the questions on page 66 of Student's Guide and reflect on the bulleted questions:

Audience:
My audience is this class, but my QRG should be easily accessible to really anyone who feels like reading it. This means that I'm speaking to a group with a huge diversity of values and expectations, as well as reading and comprehension abilities. I need to give my audience alot of background information, and use easily undertstandable language. I can provide background info through either hyperlinking, or actually explaining things in the body of text. Using hyperlinking is a good way to provide background information without insulting anyone's expertise. As per the genre, I should use an informal tone.

Context:
The formatting requirements ask for imagery, which as of yet I haven't integrated. My final draft will include imagery. I think that I've done a pretty good job breaking it into sub-headed sections of manageable length, but one or two of those sections could be broken up more. I think that I meet the content requirements. I've done a pretty good job analyzing the different player's credibility, but I could do a little bit more analysis after some of the quotes that I use. I plan to go through and make sure that all sides of the argument are represented and analyzed and that I've drawn clear lines between fact and opinion.

Webb, Michaela. "Sierra Nevada Reflection"

Paragraph Analysis

Westfall, Greg. "Bored Girl". 10/3/2009 via wikimedia commons.  creative commons license

I did a paragraph analysis of my QRG and commented on how well each paragraph accomplished the following guidelines:

• focuses on a main point (RfW 4a)
• develops the main point (RfW 4b)
• organizes itself internally (RfW 4c)
• links ideas coherently (RfW 4d)
• provides smooth transitions (RfW 4d)

I learned that in general my paragraphs are pretty well-developed, but there were times where I could've had smoother transitions between ideas within the paragraph, or transitions between paragraphs. I also noticed places where I didn't conduct a full analysis of quotes or social media posts, and transitioned abruptly to the next paragraph. There was one paragraph that I thought could be broken into two for easier reading. 

Clarity- Part 1

Squaw Valley Lodge, "Kayaking Lake Tahoe" 7/2/2005 via flikr. Creative Commons Share alike license.

For this post I read the sections on: active verbs, finding exact words, emphasizing key ideas, and tightening wordy sentences. I will reflect on them and how they can help me improve my writing:


Active Verbs:
This section explains the importance of using the active voice unless there is a good reason to use the passive voice. In the active voice, the subject does the action, whereas in the passive voice the action is received by the subject. (see what I did there?)
The active voice is generally a better choice because it's more direct and engaging, but the passive voice can be used if you're trying to downplay the importance of the subject or emphasize the importance of the object.
This section also goes over reducing wordiness and being as direct as possible. I need to go through my QRG on a sentence level to work on this, because it's something that I struggle with.


Finding Exact Words:
This section is about choosing the most effective words for what you're trying to say. It focuses on finding words that have the correct connotation and are as specific and concrete as possible for the given situation. It also warns against using cliches and figures of speech. I read this section because sometimes I have a hard time finding the best single word for what I'm trying to say. This is kindof related to over-wording sentences because when I can't find the right word I resort to using multiple less powerful words to get my point across when one would suffice.


Emphasizing Key Ideas:
This section urges writers to emphasize, de-emphasize, or indicate equal importance of ideas using coordination and subordination. It says to emphasize important ideas by putting their subject and verb in an independent clause.
This can benefit me because i've never thought about it this way. It's just another tool to add to the toolbox for having the most control over my writing and therefore my reader.


Tightening Wordy Sentences:
This section suggests eliminating redundancy, avoiding repetition, cutting out useless phrases, and simplifying the structure of your sentences. The part on cutting out useless phrases is especially important for me because I sometimes add parts to my sentences that don't actually contribute to their meaning. I should rarely use phrases like: for the purpose of, or in order to. Rather I should use single, direct, words like to and for.



Reflection: 

I read Zayla's QRG, and noticed some sentences that were wordier than they could've been. For example: "The opposition of this new institution stemmed  from the American  government." I think that the same thing could be said with less words, and put more directly. Maybe something like: "The American Government was a main opposer of this new institution.". There were a few other instances where I felt sentences could've been clearer and more direct with less words.

I also read Carrie's QRG, and noticed a lot of similar issues. One example is: "In the early days, as in late 90’s and early 2000’s, the controversy with Abercrombie and Fitch was with the way the company advertised itself." I recommended that she re-write this using less words and cutting out parts that don't add to its meaning. I suggested something like: "In the late 90's and early 2000's, the controversy revolved around the company's advertising" 

Reading my peer's QRG's made me realize the importance of having other people read your work. Sometimes it's hard to realize the way a sentence sounds to someone else.

Thoughts on Drafting

Pasternak, Leonid. "Throes of Creation" 9/16/15 via Wikipedia. Public Domain license.

In this blog post I will discuss pages 49- 58 in "A Student's Guide to First Year Writing" and which parts are relevant or not relevant to writing a QRG.

Not Relevant: 
I don't think that the section on thesis statements is very relevant to this project. A QRG doesn't, and shouldn't express a defined opinion on the topic. Its purpose is simply to explain all sides of a controversy in a way that is accessible to the general public.

Relevant:
The section on PIE paragraphs is useful because it's important to have logical organization in a QRG and not to include too much in each section. Sections should be broken up logically and should only cover a single point (or sometimes a couple points).

The organization section is also useful because arranging ideas both intuitively for the reader, and in a way that most effectively conveys the information is key for crafting a good QRG.

The conclusion section is also important, because it covers how to provide a larger context and importance of the issue for your readers.

The emphasis on being intentional with every decision and sentence is valuable. Every sentence should be advancing the mission of the QRG. Cut the bullshit!


Reflection: I read Lia's and  Austin's posts on drafting, and I found that all three of our ideas about what parts of the reading were relevant or not relevant varied greatly. The most valuable thing for me in reading their posts was hearing Lia's opinion on the importance of the section about thesis statements. She thinks that the process of coming up with thesis statements can help us organize our thoughts and make sure that we have direction even if we don't end up writing it explicitly in the QRG.

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

One thing that you should know is that I'm currently not using correct citation techniques. This is intentional! I've embedded the link to a website after sections where I used that website as a source. This is just to keep track of all my sources and make it easy for me to access them as I'm working on my drafts. This will change once I write my final draft.

I'd like feedback on the organizational structure: is it intuitive? Do you have any suggestions for better ways to organize the information?

Also, does the historical example at the beginning add value or detract value from the piece?

Please feel free to give me any feedback you want! Below is a link to the draft

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10G40FAKk-RZoGvKp77uO_cDJMyoHjRJf2C2TzBV2czg/edit?usp=sharing

Nic McPhee. "Editing Paper". 01/26/08 via Flickr. Creative Commons License

Important note: After revising the draft for step 4.4 I added correct hyperlinks for citation. I still don't have any pictures in the draft. This is intentional because I can't figure out how to add captions for citation in google docs. I will add photos for my final draft on this blog!

Practicing Quoting

Below is a screenshot of a paragraph that I wrote with two different quotes representing different sides of the Oak Flat controversy. I used different colors to indicate different parts of my paragraph:

Pink highlighting is background/contextualizing information

Orange is establishing credibility of the speaker

Green is signal phrases

Blue is my use of ellipses to cut out pieces of the quote that aren't relevant. 

Webb, Michaela. "Screenshot quotes". 9/12/15

QRGs: The Genre

For this blog post I read 5 different Quick Reference Guides and am going to come up with a kind of a definition of the genre based on common conventions, formatting, purposes, intended audience, and use of imagery throughout the 5 pieces. I will specifically be answering these questions:

1. What do the conventions of this genre - the Quick Reference Guide - seem to be? 
2. How are those conventions defined by the author’s formatting and design choices?
3. What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?
4. Who is the intended audience for these different QRGs? Are they all intended for similar audiences? Or different? How & why?
5. How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals? Why do you think they use them in this way?

Commonalities: 

I noticed a few key commonalities between all 5 articles: They all read easily: the style is very conversational, casual and personal. 

Structurally they are divided up into small easily manageable sections. These sections have question-style headings that both anticipate and shape reader's thought processes. There is lots of white space on the page to break up blocks of text.

They also all use hyperlinking liberally to provide further information for the reader may without having to use time and words explaining every aspect of the controversy. 

Imagery is used to bring an emotional charge to many of the pieces. They give faces to the people involved in the controversy and connect the reader more deeply with the issue. They also provide a pleasing visual break from the text and make the articles even more readable. 

The reason for these conventions is because the audience is the general public, and the articles are intended to give readers a comprehensive understanding of a specific controversy and all the players, motives, and tactics involved. The audience is primarily non-academic, so why make them hard to understand? They should be as easy to read as possible.

PublicDomainPictures. "Baby" 9/10/2015 via Pixabay. CC0 Public Domain License

Reflection: I read Hunter's, Aaron's, and Matthias's  posts on QRG genre. They all said basically the same things, probably partly because we did this activity in class and all drew on that to write our posts. All 3 of them were quite thorough and I had a hard time finding things that they missed. I feel like everyone has a pretty good sense of the genre at this point in the process.

Cluster of My Controversy

I made a mindmap of all the major players in the Oak Flat Controversy. In each box coming from the central box I identified an important group involved, their stance on the issue, and the ways that they are voicing their opinions. In the secondary boxes I have identified some key speakers for the groups and other motivations that could be involved.

Webb, Michaela: "Oak Flat Mindmap" created 10, September, 2015

Reflection: I read Grace's  and Austin's posts on their clusters. I think that they both used websites with visual styles that complimented their individual controversies. Austin's is about germ-cell engineering, and the visual style of his map is very simple and professional - it evokes the feeling of engineering and serious science topics. I realized that the visual composition of mine is a little off balance, but I think I want it that way because it's organized based on who is on what side of the argument. 

Annotated Bibliography in APA style

Fixedandfrailing "Citations2" 12/03/2014 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

My annotated bibliography will be in the style of APA


I used this example of an APA annotated bibliography relating to Environmental Studies

Young, B. (2015). Copper Mining and the Fight for Oak Flat. AZ Central. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/2015/07/10/oak-flat-land-swap-future-area/29958947/

Young gives a broad overview of the issue, and describes in layman’s terms the legal circumstances of the Oak Flat dispute, the cultural, natural, and recreational importance of Oak Flat, as well as the perspective of the copper mining company and the potential for job creation and economic gain. He broadly outlines the mining company’s plans for the site and their probable ecological impact. He does provide more quotes and evidence from the anti-mine side of the argument. This article will serve to help me outline the basics of the dispute, and will be a resource for quotes from individuals involved. 

NoiseCat, J., & Morales Gomez, D. (2015, July 22). Apaches Rally At Capitol, Vowing To Continue Fighting for Sacred Oak Flat. Huffington Post. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/apaches-and-allies-rally-at-capitol-to-save-sacred-oak-flat-from-massive-mine_55aff2f9e4b08f57d5d3747d

NoiseCat and Gomez give a report of the Apache protestor’s journey to Washington and subsequent public protest of the plans to destroy Oak Flat. It gives a brief description of the history involved in the dispute and the tricky political atmosphere surrounding the issue and McCain’s involvement. In my paper, this article will serve as information about the different methods that the Apaches are using to protest the proposed destruction of Oak Flat and their effectiveness. It will provide direct quotes from various members of the tribe involved in protesting.

Harrington, A. (2015, July 14). Defending Oak Flat and Deconstructing White Priveledge. Huffington Post. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-harrington/defending-oak-flat-and-de_b_7787890.htm

Harrington, a pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, writes about the advantages that whites and Christians have in today’s world and how that relates to the fight for Oak Flat. She argues that a sacred site of any other religion or group would be protected, and that this is just one more case of marginalization for the Apache tribe. In my paper, this article will provide a different and interesting perspective on the importance of Oak Flat and the reasons for its probable development. The comments section of this article also has some interesting opinions that I may integrate into my paper.

Simon, S. & Jung, C. (Narrators) & Rambler, T. & Nosie, W. & McCain J. & Wood S. & Kitcheyan T. & Vogler B. (Contributors). (2015, June 27). Native Americans Protest Proposed Copper Mine In Arizona [Radio Broadcast Episode]. In Weekend Edition. Washington, DC: National Public Radio

Carrie Jung outlines the cultural as well as potential economic importance of Oak Flat, and includes statements from many different sides of the controversy: Apaches who want Oak Flat protected, Apaches who see more value in the economic growth that a mining operation would bring, McCain, and others. This broadcast will be a great resource for my paper because it will provide quoted from McCain, which are hard to come by, as well as quotes from Apaches who don’t want to protect Oak Flat.

Yablon, M. (2004). Property Rights and Sacred Sites: Federal Regulatory Responses to American Indian Religious Claims on Public Land. The Yale Law Journal, 113(7), 1623-1662. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/stable/pdf/4135775.pdf?acceptTC=true

Marcia Yablon examines the history of sacred sites protection and the governing laws. She describes which agencies have control over different areas that encompass sacred sites. She states that the protection of these sites is vital to the cultural health of Native groups, but also explores instances where the economic value associated with destroying the sites was very great. The relevant parts of this article can serve to put the issue discussed in my paper in legal and historical context, as well as provide an objective perspective on protection of sites versus economic interests associated with destroying them. Many of the examples provided are very similar to the Oak Flat dispute.

Hontz, J., & Stinski, B. (1992). Sacred Sites, Disputed Rights. Human Rights, 19(4), 26-29.

In this article, Hontz and Stinski explain that the religious freedom of many Native Peoples has been violated in different instances throughout history because of the often stark cultural differences between Native American groups and the general U.S. population. They describe various attempts to protect Native American religious rights, many of which failed. They identify one specific instance of land sacred to the San Carlos Apache Tribe being threatened by the development of an observatory on top of Mt. Graham in Southern Arizona. This instance will be particularly useful to me as it involves the same tribe as the Oak Flat dispute. This article will provide historical examples of similar disputes as the one that I’m dealing with in my paper. It will also add to my understanding of the legal history of sacred site destruction and to my understanding of the current legal position of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. 

[Superior Cu Alliance]. (2015, July 24). @DosGendy the land exchange did not take Apache land & not all members think it's sacred. ARTICLE: http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2015/07/23/oak-flat-sacred/30587803/ [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/CU_Alliance/status/624811129177387008

Superior Cu Alliance expresses their opinion that Oak Flat is in fact not a sacred site for the San Carlos Apache tribe. They seem to be in support of mining development there. They provide a link to an article written by a San Carlos Apache member backing up their claim that it isn’t a sacred site. In my paper, this social media source can be used as an example of an organization in favor of mining in the Oak Flat area and their reasoning.

Kutzler, S. [SarahKutzler]. (2015, August 31). @SenJohnMcCain @TeamMcCain maybe if you would stand for ppl you represent and not big foreign biz #saveoakflat [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/SarahKutzler/status/638453457939075072 

Kutzler express her discontentment with John McCain’s support of Resolution Copper mines over the protection of Oak Flat, a sacred site for the San Carlos Apache tribe. In my paper, this social media source can provide an example of the popular support for the protection of Oak Flat over the creation of a copper mine there.

[WhatLauraKnows]. (2015, February 24). Save Oak Flat: Protect The Sacred. Retrieved September 9, 2015 from https://radicalindigenism.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/saveoakflat-protectthesacred/

This blog is written by a student in American Indian Studies at Arizona State, and is herself a San Carlos Apache. She states that in the blog she wants to share her ideas of radical Indigenism. In this blog post she attempts to mobilize people in support of saving Oak Flat by describing the cultural and personal importance that it has to her and her family. Although poorly written, this blog post will serve in my paper as a very personal window into one protect Oak Flat supporter’s mind.

Sendaholic (2015,  April 10). Queen Creek Boulder Comp 2015: ‘Save Oak Flat’. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC1sITGNAZk

This is a video of the Queen Creek bouldering competition in 2015. Although most of the video is rock climbing footage, the first few minutes focus on the Oak Flat Controversy and the opinions of rock climbers who use the area and the Access Fund, an organization trying to protect climbing access in the area. This video will represent the opinions of rock climbers and the Access Fund in my paper.

Reflection: I read Allison's APA bibliography and  Betsy's Chicago style bibliography. To be honest, I think that all the different styles of bibliography that exist are pretty stupid! I think that everything would be easier if there was one standardized way of citing between all disciplines. It would make it easier to do interdisciplinary and draw information from many different disciplines. I often feel that the hard lines drawn between different fields and areas of study are unnecessary. Things are more interconnected than our academic system seems to think they are.